Blown Up: Gaming and War
Let’s face it: shooting stuff is fun – in video, that is; but it can also be ethically complicated. Gallery 101’s current exhibition Blown Up: Gaming and War, brings to…
features
London Triptych traces queer desire across the centuries
Owing in large part to Hollywood’s discovery of its infinite star vehicle potential, the “intersecting lives” narrative has become, in recent years, something of a cop out. When the A-story…
Athena Film Festival passes the Bechdel test
Occasionally films come out in the mainstream that give a glimpse of hope that perhaps the world of film is changing and becoming more adept at telling stories that don’t…
Art at War surveys creativity under Nazi occupation, from Picasso to Dubuffet
“History isn’t the lies of the victors … I know that now. It’s more the memories of the survivors, most of whom are neither victorious nor defeated.” – The Sense…
A visit to Josh Keyes’ dystopian zoo
If Josh Keyes’ paintings don’t take a bit of your breath away, I suggest you visit an optometrist. Each one sits as a stand-alone diorama, a moment caught in a…
On efficacy and ideology: Zero Dark Thirty and the ethical justification of torture
“The tradition of the oppressed teaches us that the ‘state of emergency’ in which we live is not the exception but the rule.” -Walter Benjamin Kathryn Bigelow’s film Zero Dark…
This art is all about anger
The Anti-Capitalist Resistance Comic Book is the second graphic novel from activist Gord Hill. It is a chronicle of several anti-capitalist and anti-globalization movements over the last two decades, from…
The imagination, art, and activism of Herman’s House
Last week I attended the Toronto theatrical premiere of Herman’s House, a thought-provoking documentary written and directed by Angad Singh Bhalla. This Canadian film tells the story of an artistic…
Femininity, fantasy, and fever dreams – Book review: The Lava in My Bones by Barry Webster
In a delirious, hallucinogenic voice, author Barry Webster turns directly toward the place and experience of femininity in a queer life dominated by masculine desires.
Root sculptures celebrate local activists – Pierre Leichner’s Grassroots Project
Pierre Leichner uses grass to make sculptures — for The Grassroots Project, in the shape of faces of community workers and activists from Vancouver’s East Side. The living sculptures, pictured…
One Month Later – How the 2012 Federal Budget Impacts the Arts
With the release of the 2012 federal budget one month behind us you’ve likely captured the gist of the budget – cuts to the CBC and none to the Canada…
Art for social justice: 12 remarkable women – Roots to Resistance project shares stories of courage
Natalia Estemirova Twelve women. Twelve stories of political courage. Twelve portraits. The Roots to Resistance project is spreading word about the groundbreaking work of twelve women who have dedicated their…
Hot Docs 2012 – The good, the bad, the incomprehensible
The 19th edition of North America’s largest documentary showcase and one of the world’s largest film festivals begins this week, running from April 26 to May 6 in Toronto. With…
Thomas Waugh flirts with fantasy while fucking reality – An analysis of Out/Lines and Lust Unearthed
What’s the value of an art school? – Contextualizing the crisis at NSCAD
NSCAD's modern new Port campus overlooks Halifax harbour. Photo by Rory Hyde. Celebrating its 125th anniversary next year, The Nova Scotia College of Art and Design is the oldest of…
Networked Shock Art: Voina in the News – Analysis of political interventions of Russian art collective
For the last year Vorotnikov and Nikolaev have been waging a legal battle with Russian authorities for their freedom. While these challenges facing Voina have been well documented on Art…
New Nordic Documentary Cinema – Identity and belonging made visible
To describe the topic of Nordic documentary cinema as unexplored would be an understatement.
Politics play prominently at the 54th Venice Biennale
Water is the political motif for a significant number of works and death stalks the corridors of the Venice Biennale.
Viva Riva! revives Congolese filmmaking – A review of the crime thriller by director Djo Tunda Wa Munga
“In making “Viva Riva!,” I wanted to find a new way to talk about life in Kinshasa today to describe how my hometown works and how it doesn’t work."
Myth-busting the Internet: The truth about throttling, congestion and usage-based billing – New report offers scathing critique of Canadian telecoms industry
A new report challenges claims made by Canada’s largest telecommunication companies in recent disputes over Internet billing and governance. Casting An Open Net: A Leading-Edge Approach to Canada’s Digital Future,…